Tony Bryant v. Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission ( 2022 )

RENDERED: JULY 1, 2022; 10:00 A.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2021-CA-0846-MR
TONY BRYANT APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM HARDIN CIRCUIT COURT
v. HONORABLE JOHN D. SIMCOE, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 21-CI-00260
KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE COMMISSION AND
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY APPELLEES
OPINION
VACATING AND
DISMISSING
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BEFORE: ACREE, COMBS, AND MAZE, JUDGES.
COMBS, JUDGE: Appellant, Tony Bryant (Bryant), appeals from an order of the
Hardin Circuit Court affirming a decision of the Kentucky Unemployment
Insurance Commission (Commission). The Commission found that Bryant is
disqualified from receiving benefits because he was discharged for misconduct
connected to his work. After our review, we vacate the order of the Hardin Circuit
Court and dismiss this appeal for the reasons set forth below.
Bryant worked as a human resource assistant for the Department of
the Army’s Civilian Human Resources Agency at Fort Knox, Kentucky. His job
duties entailed processing applications for benefits for military widows in the
Army’s Survivor Benefits Program. Bryant was fired for borrowing money from
one of the widows in the program. Bryant subsequently filed a claim with the
Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance, which determined that he was
disqualified to receive benefits because he was discharged for misconduct
connected with the work. Bryant appealed. Following an evidentiary hearing, the
Referee affirmed.
Bryant appealed to the Commission, which affirmed the Referee’s
decision on April 28, 2020.
Bryant then sought judicial review pursuant to KRS1 341.450(1),
which provides as follows:
Except as provided in KRS 341.460, within twenty (20)
days after the date of the decision of the commission, any
party aggrieved thereby may, after exhausting his
remedies before the commission, secure judicial review
thereof by filing a complaint against the commission in
the Circuit Court of the county in which the claimant
was last employed by a subject employer whose
reserve account or reimbursing employer account is
1
Kentucky Revised Statutes.
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affected by such claims. Any other party to the
proceeding before the commission shall be made a
defendant in such action. The complaint shall state fully
the grounds upon which review is sought, assign all
errors relied on, and shall be verified by the plaintiff or
his attorney. The plaintiff shall furnish copies thereof for
each defendant to the commission, which shall deliver
one (1) copy to each defendant.
(Emphasis added.)
Although Bryant was last employed by the Department of the Army in
Hardin County, he filed his complaint in Meade Circuit Court.2 On June 16, 2020,
the Commission and the Department of the Army, now Appellees, jointly filed a
response and contended that Bryant had failed to strictly comply with KRS
341.450(1) by failing to file his complaint in the proper court within the requisite
time -- an error which was fatal to his appeal pursuant to the statute. On January
13, 2021, the Meade Circuit Court entered an order transferring the action “to
Hardin Circuit Court, the appropriate venue.”
The Hardin Circuit Court proceeded to decide the case on its merits
and affirmed the Commission’s ruling by order entered June 24, 2021.
On July 23, 2021, Bryant filed a notice of appeal to this Court. Bryant
again argues that his actions did not constitute misconduct. If this case were
properly before us, we would affirm the Commission’s ruling without hesitation
2
Bryant resides in Meade County.
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based upon our review of the record. However, we cannot reach the merits. We
agree with the Commission that Bryant’s complaint should have been dismissed by
the Meade Circuit Court for lack of jurisdiction.
In his reply brief, Bryant contends that the Commission’s
jurisdictional argument was not preserved. However, it is well settled that
“jurisdiction may be raised by the parties or the court at any time and cannot be
waived. Moreover, the issue may be raised for the first time on appeal.” Cabinet
for Health and Family Services v. J.T.G., 301 S.W.3d 35, 39 (Ky. App. 2009)
(internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
KRS 341.450(1) required that Bryant secure judicial review by filing
a complaint in the circuit court of the county where he was last employed within
20 days after the date of the Commission’s decision. Bryant failed to comply with
this statutory prerequisite by filing his complaint in Meade Circuit Court rather
than Hardin Circuit Court. Therefore, Meade Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction ab
initio to consider Bryant’s appeal.
“It is a firmly rooted concept of law in this state that the courts have
no jurisdiction over an appeal from an administrative agency action unless every
statutory precondition is satisfied.” Taylor v. Kentucky Unemployment Ins.
Comm’n, 382 S.W.3d 826, 831 (Ky. 2012).
As a general rule, “[t]here is no appeal to the courts from
an action of an administrative agency as a matter of right.
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When grace to appeal is granted by statute, a strict
compliance with its terms is required.” Board of
Adjustments of City of Richmond v. Flood, 581 S.W.2d 1,
2 (Ky. 1978) (citations omitted). Statutory preconditions
for vesting courts with the authority to engage in judicial
review cannot be satisfied by substantial compliance.
See City of Devondale v. Stallings, 795 S.W.2d 954, 957
(Ky. 1990) (“It is only [when defects are
nonjurisdictional in nature] that a discussion of
substantial compliance . . . is appropriate.”).
Consequently, at least with respect to the
jurisdictional requirements for invoking judicial
review of an administrative agency ruling, we have no
substantial compliance exception to a statute which
grants the right to appeal. See Kentucky
Unemployment Insurance Commission v. Carter, 689
S.W.2d 360, 361-362 (Ky. 1985).
Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission v. Wilson, 528 S.W.3d 336, 339
(Ky. 2017) (emphasis added).
We agree with the Commission that the Meade Circuit Court’s order
transferring the case to Hardin Circuit Court did not -- and could not -- cure the
jurisdictional defect.
A long line of Kentucky cases have [sic] held that where
appeal from an administrative agency decision is
permitted by statute, the requirements of the statute are
mandatory, and a circuit court does not obtain
jurisdiction to hear the appeal unless the statutory
requirements have been met.
Cabinet for Human Resources v. Holbrook, 672 S.W.2d 672, 675 (Ky. App. 1984)
(emphasis added).
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Directly on point is the venerable old case of Jackson v. Wernert, 30
S.W. 412 (Ky. 1895), which involved an appeal of a judgment of the justice of the
peace that was filed in Jefferson Circuit Court instead of quarterly court as required
by a statute in effect at the time. On its own motion, the circuit court transferred
the case to its proper venue in quarterly court. The Court of Appeals of Kentucky
held that “[a]s the circuit court had no jurisdiction of the cause of action between
the parties, it follows that it had no power to transfer the same to the quarterly
court, and should have dismissed the appeal.” Id. at 413 (emphasis added).
In the case before us, the Meade Circuit Court had no jurisdiction over
the action between the parties. Therefore, it follows that the Meade Circuit Court
had no power to transfer the case to the Hardin Circuit Court and that it should
have dismissed the appeal. It also follows that the Hardin Circuit Court had no
jurisdiction because the Meade Circuit Court’s transfer order was void ab initio
and was, therefore, a legal nullity. So, too, is the Hardin Circuit Court’s June 24,
2021, order affirming the ruling of the Commission.
It is well established in Kentucky law that any order
issued by a court that did not have proper jurisdiction is
“void ab initio . . . is not entitled to any respect or
deference by the courts.” S.J.L.S. v. T.L.S., 265 S.W.3d
804, 833 (Ky. App. 2008) (internal citations omitted).
Moreover, [such an] order is considered “a legal nullity,
and a court has no discretion in determining whether it
should be set aside.” Id. (citing Foremost Ins. Co. v.
Whitaker, 892 S.W.2d 607, 610 (Ky. App. 1995)); see
also Wedding v. Lair, 404 S.W.2d 451 (Ky. 1966).
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Cabinet for Health and Family Services v. J.T.G., 301 S.W.3d 35, 39 (Ky. App.
2009).
Accordingly, we vacate the June 24, 2021, order of the Hardin Circuit
Court, and we dismiss this appeal.
ALL CONCUR.
BRIEFS FOR APPELLANT: BRIEF FOR APPELLEE
KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT
Douglas E. Miller INSURANCE COMMISSION:
Radcliff, Kentucky
Joshua R. Hurley
Frankfort, Kentucky
BRIEF FOR APPELLEE
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY:
L. Jay Gilbert
Louisville, Kentucky
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